This piece of very good news was not widely dwelt on by commentators, but it does represent a refreshing realism, so absent from the Foreign Office whenever it thinks about eastern Europe.
As this blog has repeatedly asserted, Russia is an integral part of what we might call Greater Europe and forms its eastern frontier as Britain is the gateway west. Britain is the door to America, in which it has a huge connection; Russia is the pathway to Asia. Britain and Russia are natural allies and have stood together in the Napoleonic wars, WWI and WWII. The alliance is on a different footing to that the UK has with the US.
Russia and Britain have mutual interests based upon order, peace and security in Europe, since neither can prosper if Europe in unstable. Britain is rich in financial skills and prospecting technology, while Russia brims with natural resources including gas and oil. The fact that one of Britain’s largest corporations, BP, now has a working partnership with, and a 20% stake in, Russia’s state owned energy giant is very good news for both countries. Of course it is true that aspects of the workings of Russia’s political system appear odd, even sinister, to democracy evangelists and campaigners of every sort and kind. It is also true that to the pragmatic Russians, Britain’s own democracy is limited and duplicitous. This important new deal for oil exploration will be very good for both countries and will help to better open the eyes of each to the virtues of the other.
The UK’s relationship with the US in quite different. This is based upon a common heritage, family ties and business connections which bind the two countries so closely, that they are one in more ways than they care to admit.